On Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:48:32 -0800, Dan Leifker >
wrote:

>I have a recipe that calls for cooked ground beef. I'd like to remove
>as much fat as possible before I add other ingredients.
>
>Friend #1 told me to boil (!) the ground beef and stir until the meat is
>browned, and then pour off all the water. I tried this, and the meat
>disintegrates into very tiny pieces, almost like coarse sand. (That
>turned my sloppy Joes into sludge.)
>
>Friend #2 said cook the meat as usual, and then add a quart of two of
>ice water. The fat solidifies and rises to the top, and then I pour off
>all the liquid.
>
>Friend #3 said the advice from Friend #2 was utter nonsense, and that I
>should just cook the darn meat, pour off the fat, and proceed with the
>recipe.
>
>Any suggestions for the best way to drain fat from ground beef? Friend
>#3 also said not to waste money on high-grade ground beef with less fat,
>because you can pour off all the fat after cooking.
>
>I'm confused.
>dleifker

Hi Dan,

If the idea is "drain fat from the meat", there have already been some
good suggestions. All of those methods will unfortunately leave a
fair bit of saturated fat within the pieces of meat.

If the idea is instead "get rid of SATURATED fat" for heart healt, one
suggestion made some time ago by the American Heart Association (I
think) was to fry the meat in a good bit of cooking oil, such as
canola oil. Then drain off that oil. It will carry off a good bit of
the saturated fat and leave behind mostly unsaturated fat.

It's a pain in the buns to do, but worthwhile, especially if one is
cooking large amounts of ground beef to be frozen for later use.

Best -- Terry